Analysis and prioritization of management factors influencing the risk of hazardous materials road transport accidents using the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process

Background: Annually, road transportation of hazardous materials leads to numerous accidents and causes significant damage to humans, transportation equipment, roads, and the environment. One of the factors that significantly influence accident occurrence and damage severity is transportation management, which is a multidimensional factor.Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify, analyze, and prioritize the managerial factors affecting the risk of hazardous materials road transportation accidents.Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted in four stages in Iran in 2024. In the first stage, the managerial factors affecting the risk of road transportation accidents of hazardous materials were identified through a review of scientific literature and expert interviews. Thereafter, using expert opinions, the variables were determined and classified (the second and third stages), and finally, using the fuzzy AHP method, the relative weight and priority of the identified variables were determined.Results: In this study, 25 variables were identified as effective managerial factors and classified into four main categories, including road management, vehicle management, information and communication, and management of personnel involved in transportation, along with 18 sub-factors and 9 contextual variables. The results of the fuzzy AHP indicated that road management (relative weight = 0.257) had the highest priority, while personnel management (relative weight = 0.246) had the lowest.Conclusion: Road management is the most critical managerial factor affecting the risk of hazardous materials road transportation accident. Technical health assessments, emergency response design evaluations, effective communications, and driver health assessments are the most significant sub-managerial variables affecting this risk.